Islam’s lack of core states fuels instability without central mediation

Evidence

Islam is a source of instability in the world because it lacks a dominant center. States aspiring to be leaders of Islam, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and potentially Indonesia, compete for influence in the Muslim world; no one of them is in a strong position to mediate conflicts within Islam; and no one of them is able to act authoritatively on behalf of Islam in dealing with conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim groups. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 735

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels Milgrom-style institutional analysis: structures for mediation and enforcement matter, and their absence generates conflict — connects to the law-merchant work on how reputation systems need central coordinating institutions.
• QUESTION: How does this account for historical Islamic empires (Ottoman, Abbasid) that did provide core states? Does the claim only hold for the modern nation-state era?